Humanities: Mythology Flashcards
Egyptian Mythology
- Ra (Sun)
- Osiris (Underworld)
- Isis (Life)
- Horus (Sky)
- Anubis (Death)
- Hathor (Fertility)
- Thoth (Knowledge)
- Set (Desert, Chaos)
Identify the domain and appearance:
Ra
Egyptian Mythology
- Domain: God of the Sun and Creation
- Physical Description: Often depicted as a man with the head of a hawk, crowned with a sun disk encircled by a cobra.
- Additional Information: Ra travels through the underworld at night and is reborn each morning.
Domain, appearance, related to:
Osiris
Egyptian Mythology
- Domain: God of the Dead and Afterlife
- Physical Description: Depicted as a mummified king, holding a crook and flail.
- Additional Information: Osiris is a central figure in the myth of Isis and Osiris, symbolizing death and resurrection.
- Related to: Brother and husband of Isis, father of Horus, brother of Set and Nephthys.
Isis
Egyptian Mythology
- Domain: Goddess of Life, Motherhood, and Fertility
- Physical Description: Often shown with wings, carrying an ankh, sometimes nursing her son Horus.
- Additional Information: Isis tricked and poisoned Ra into giving her his power over life and death making her the most powerful of the Egyptian pantheon.
- Related To: Isis is the wife of Osiris and mother to Horus.
Domain and appearance:
Hathor
Egyptian Mythology
- Domain: Goddess of Love, Music, and Motherhood
- Physical Description: Often depicted as a cow, a woman with cow’s ears, or wearing a headdress of horns and a sun disk.
(My notes say “cow god”, so let’s leave it at that.)
Domain, appearance, additional info, related to:
Anubis
Egyptian Mythology
- Domain: God of Death and The Underworld
- Physical Description: Depicted with the head of a jackal or as a jackal, often overseeing embalming ceremonies.
- Additional Information: Anubis is the guardian of entrance to the underworld, tombs, and secrets, but had no temples dedicated to him. Associated with mummification and the weighing of the heart in the afterlife.
- Related to: Son of Osiris
Bastet
- Domain: Goddess of Cats and Protection
- Physical Description: Depicted as a lioness or as a woman with the head of a lioness or domestic cat.
- Additional Information: Bastet is known to protect the home from evil spirits and disease, particularly diseases associated with women and children.
- Related to: Daughter of Ra, sometimes considered the opposite of Sekhmet, Goddess of War.
Khonsu
- Domain: God of the Moon and Time
- Physical Description: Often depicted as a young man with the lunar disk above his head.
- Additional Information: His name means ‘traveller’, and this may relate to the perceived nightly travel of the Moon across the sky.
Set
- Domain: The Trickster God of Lightning, Storms, and Chaos.
- Physical Description: Portrayed with a unique animal head with a squared-off snout, long, rectangular ears, and a forked tail.
- Additional Information: Set is associated with upheaval, disorder, and is the antagonist in the story of Osiris and Isis.
Thoth
- Domain: God of Knowledge and Writing
- Physical Description: Often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis, holding a writing palette and reed pen.
- Additional Information: Thoth is credited with the invention of writing and is the scribe of the underworld.
Aton
Horus
Falcon-headed Egyptian sky-god who was protector and patron of the pharaoh
Greek dieties
Athena
In Greek legends, these are portals through which the gods spoke directly to people
Oracle
The Judgement of Paris
Prince Paris is asked by Zeus to judge which of Hera, Aphrodite, and (Pallas) Athena is the fairest
“Home of the Gods”
Greek
Mt. Olympus
Prometheus
bound by Zeus and whose name is used in
a play by Aeschylus.
Months named after Roman gods
January (Janus)
March (Mars)
April (Aphrodite)
May (Maia)
June (Juno)
Zeus
- disguised as a swan, visited Leda
- god of the sky, lightning / thunder
- Consort of Hera / Juno
- Father of demigod Heracles and Venus
Roman: Jupiter
Thetis
son is demigod Achilles
Helios
statue as The Colossus of Rhodes
Daphne
the water nymph pursued by Apollo who was turned into a laurel tree by her father
Peneus, the river god.
Gaia
primordial
Chronus
Greek primordial god of time
Athena
- The Parthenon is an example of classical Greek architecture that was dedicated to the goddess Athena and that is located in the city named in her honor
- Gave a polished shield of brass to Perseus to use as a mirror to defeat medusa
- Gave the gift of the olive tree to the city of Athens
- owl
Roman: Minerva
Nike
goddess of victory and daughter of Titans
statue called “winged victory of samothrace”
Maia
fertility and spring
Poseidon
god of the sea
father of demigod child theseus
Neptune
Hades
god of the underworld
Pluto
Hera
god(ess?) of marriage
Consort with Zeus / Jupiter
peacock
Juno
Eros
- Instigator of affection is often this god of desire, who shoots arrows as a tangible cause of the “ordeal of love”
- Son of Venus and Mars
Cupid
Ares
god of war
father of demigod Romulus and Remus (founders of Rome)
Mars
Olympian
Hestia
Vesta
Demeter
the Greek goddess of grain, the harvest, and crops who is responsible for the fertility of Earth, was also the granddaughter of Gaea, and whose daughter is Persephone
cornucopia
Roman: Ceres
Olympian
Persephone
Demeter’s Daughter and goddess of grain
Roman: Terminus
god who sets limits and protected boundaries
Leto
Mother of twin gods Apollo and Artemis
Atropos
The Roman goddess, Morta, was associated with the Greek Fate, Atropos. Both were believed to control the moment of a person’s death